Charter jet executive admits role in Teterboro accident

A jet charter company executive who booked and staffed a
flight from Teterboro Airport that crashed on takeoff in
2005 pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy charges in
connection with the incident.

Joseph Singh, 37, of Boca Raton, Fla., told a federal judge
in Newark he knowingly lied to customers when he represented
Platinum Jet Management as a legally licensed commercial
charter. He also dispatched unqualified pilots, including
John Kimberling, who was at the controls on Feb. 2, 2005,
when the flight failed to lift off, skidded across Route 46
at rush hour and slammed into a clothing warehouse, injuring
11 people.

Singh, whom Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott McBride called a
"minor participant" in the incident, admitted he
knew Kimberling had not completed the training required by
federal law to be in the cockpit that day.

Singh, who had worked for Platinum since 2003 and was
director of charters, also said he knowingly sent wire
communications to customers that lied about the
company's compliance with federal aviation regulations.

He pleaded guilty to the lead count of a 23-count
indictment, conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charge
stems from interstate and international contracts he faxed
to customers that claimed a compliance and safety record the
company never had, authorities said.

Four other counts in connection with making false statements
to federal officers investigating the crash were dropped
against Singh as part of the plea agreement.

Singh was indicted in February along with five other
officials from now-defunct Platinum Jet, which was based in
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Platinum billed itself as a high-end
luxury service and charged as much as $90,000 per charter.

The federal indictment charged them with various counts, including falsifying flight logs, lying about licensing violations and overloading planes with fuel by topping off the tanks at airports where it was cheaper....